Ottawa Citizen: Uncovering a Jewel

Ottawa Citizen Feature: Uncovering a Jewel

Designer, renovator team up to bring out the beauty in a heritage rental, turning it into an executive apartment for the upscale crowd.

Sometimes it takes a rethink of things to bring out the best in a person or project. For interior designer Ulya Jensen and renovator Noel McGinnity, that was certainly the case.

Both involved in high tech yet with interests that pulled them in another direction, each left the field a decade ago to focus on a more hands-on creative career. Their paths crossed early on and they have collaborated together ever since, with their latest project, the revamp of a heritage property in Sandy Hill, an example of highlighting the best features of an old gem while bringing it into the 21st century.

“We talked about what we should preserve, what is popular now and what’s going to show some of the history and the age of the actual building,” says Jensen. “I really wanted to keep a lot of the Old World feel.”